While detergents made utilizing surfactant intermediates, such as alkyl benzenes, 2-alkyl alcohols (e.g., Isalchem®, Sasol), and primarily linear alcohols (Neodol®, Shell), exist today, these surfactant intermediates are all made from conventional feedstocks, such as petroleum-derived ethylene, kerosene, or other petrol materials. Due to the growing environmental concerns over fossil fuel extraction and economic concerns over exhausting fossil fuel deposits, there is a demand for using an alternate feedstock for producing surfactants for use in detergents.
The most significant challenge associated with providing renewable surfactants, other than the conventional methyl ester sulphonates produced today from natural oils, is the capital cost of building entirely new production facilities. Furthermore, there is a need to provide an efficient way to produce high purity bio-paraffins for use in producing large volume, renewable detergent intermediates (e.g., detergent alcohols, linear alkyl benzene (LAB)), either as a stand-alone detergent intermediate production facility or integrated with an existing detergent intermediate production facility. Production approaches that provide both renewable detergent alcohols and renewable LAB are especially desirable. Additionally, providing long chain renewable feedstocks for the production of long chain renewable paraffin sulfonates, simultaneously with the production of renewable detergent alcohols and renewable LAB, may make the production of renewable paraffin sulfonates efficient and viable, as well.
Methods for processing natural fats, oils, and fatty acids into renewable paraffins are known. However, these known methods are largely focused on biofuels, e.g., long chain renewable diesel. Much less is known about methods for producing renewable paraffins for use in making detergent intermediates, where purity is more stringent. High purity paraffins are important for detergent intermediate manufacturing, e.g., LAB production or production of detergent alcohols, where subsequent process steps are performed (e.g., dehydrogenation, alkylation, hydroformylation), involving various catalysts. In contrast, biofuels do not require subsequent processing—biofuels are typically burned in a combustion engine. And, many of the desirable characteristics of biofuels are less desirable for detergent intermediates and detergent surfactants that are used in cleaning products. For example, the presence of impurities, such as branched compounds, unsaturated compounds, aromatic compounds, cyclic compounds, and compounds with some degree of oxygen content is often desirable in a biofuel. For detergent intermediates, however, such impurities can form undesirable products, such as quaternary structures (which may have reduced biodegradability), under standard catalytic processes. And, many of the catalysts used in the chemical processing of detergent intermediates do not tolerate impurities, such as oxygenates, residual fatty acids, esters, and substantial branching.
A process for producing linear alkylbenzenes, paraffins, and olefins from a feed source that includes a blend of natural oils, i.e., oils that are not extracted from the earth, and kerosene is known. However, the known process has limitations, namely it only allows for the supplementing of a kerosene feed with natural oils, e.g., about 12% of the feed source is natural oils.
There is, therefore, a need to produce high purity linear paraffins from renewable materials. There is also a need to provide low-cost, integrated processes that make use of existing petrol-based production facilities. In particular, there is a need to produce linear alkylbenzenes, paraffins, and olefins from a feed source that includes a blend of natural oils and kerosene (petrol-based), where the feed source contains a greater concentration of natural oil (e.g., greater than about 12% or greater than about 50% or greater than about 75%). There is also a need to provide new stand-alone production facilities (outside of existing petrol-based production facilities) to produce renewable surfactants. Renewable surfactants may be used to make sustainable detergent formulations for consumer products, to meet the needs of consumers who desire sustainable products with good performance at an affordable cost.
It has been found that by selecting certain process conditions, high purity, renewable linear paraffins may be produced from natural oils, for use in making renewable detergent intermediates, such as LAB and detergent alcohols. The process(es) of the invention may be integrated into existing petrol-based production facilities or used in stand-alone production facilities.